It took longer than the two weekends writer Julie Beun originally estimated, but with the help of a few friends, her rundown backyard was turned into an outdoor living room.Chris Mikula
/ Ottawa Citizen

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OTTAWA — Until recently, I had the same sort of backyard I had growing up in Nepean in the 1970s. Nondescript trees? Check. Lumpy grass? Check. Veggie patch? Check. Crappy chain-link fence overlooking neighbour’s dirt patch? Check.

While my kids were little, it was fine. They made mud pies, chased the dog and ran through the sprinkler screaming like banshees.

But as they got older, the backyard got quieter. Peaceful, even. Mostly because no one — not even me — wanted to be there. I couldn’t even hang out laundry without the neighbour’s four Afghan hounds barking at me through orange hazard mesh on their side of the fence.

Something had to be done. So I decided to reclaim the space and transform it into an outdoor living room and a grown-up oasis — or at least some place I could relax, share a bottle of wine with friends and beckon my hubby, Joe, to feed me peeled grapes.

Easier said than done. In my head, I would get one of my best mates, Tony Hagen of Pagen Enterprises, to pull down the half-dead cedars, clear out the bushes and throw up a seven-foot privacy fence, for starters. Then Joe and I would do the interlock, lay the sod and toss a few perennials in some type of garden bed. The whole project would be done in, what? Two weekends, max.

It’s not often that crazy people realize they’re crazy. It’s kind of like wondering if you’re stupid. And yet, there’s a point in most DIY renovations when you have the sinking feeling that you might be off your rocker. Or at least that life is not at all like HGTV.

Getting startedSeptember 2010

In a misguided spurt of energy, I convince Tony to take out the 20 decaying cedars we need to remove for a fence. He brings over a wood chipper and grinds me up five barrels of fresh chips for the garden. Unfortunately, the hole left by the vacated trees offers an unparalleled view of my neighbour’s backyard, the four dogs and the orange hazard mesh. The space doesn’t just look neglected; it looks like someone kicked in its teeth.

Weeks go by and Tony’s ever-busy schedule gets fuller. Eventually, snow starts to fall. Tony drops in for a beer and stares at the super-crappiness of my backyard, sans trees. “First thing in the spring,” he says with a sheepish grin. “I promise.”

April 2011

Chatting with my neighbour, he points out the ugly hole in the backyard, which hasn’t improved with spring’s rain and mud. “Where’s my fence you promised?” he demands. His fence? Hope flares briefly that he’ll pitch in financially on the project, since the fence will run down two sides of his yard and there is some moral argument for him to contribute. He stomps away. Guess not.

April 13

Tony comes by to plan. He’s an amazingly fast and accurate builder — a barrel-chested man with baseball mitt-sized hands, a quick wit and piercing blue eyes. He quickly jots down the materials I need, muttering to himself and counting on his huge fingers. Then, he takes the list to Home Depot himself — I guess he doesn’t trust me to do the job. The man lets me feed him, but he won’t let me drive his truck or order supplies. Apparently, my role is to pay bills and call the hydro company before we dig.

The materials arrive three days later. That weekend, Tony brings in a backhoe to tear up the backyard. He’s in his element, creating chaos to turn into order. The yard, which was sloped and featured a disused composting box, messy shrubs and a dirt pile, is completely levelled. It’s also completely muddy. The dog sniffs every square inch and squats frequently. For the next two weeks until Tony comes back, muddy paw prints are a feature in our Victorian-era house.

April 23

Wet weather clears and Tony returns with his “boys.” The “boys” are really young men, most of them related to Tony in the way large French-Canadian families do business. The work starts slowly — tree roots and a buried concrete pad from the old outhouse mean Tony has to disrupt the regular spacing of fence posts to work around the obstacles. The boys set up a massive jig in the driveway, on which they build each fence panel before installing it.

April 28 to 30

Within three days, the fence is up. On the side facing the neighbour’s driveway, Tony has made two panels removable, if we ever need access to build our long-planned addition.

He has also brought the fence well inside the property line, to eliminate potential neighbour disputes. Already, the yard looks better, even though it’s still pretty much a mud pit.

May 7, 2011

Now we’re getting somewhere. Tony brings in a bobcat, a load of gravel and landscape tarp to put underneath. Along with the fence, we’re building a small open shed along the garage for storage. While he’s at it, he also digs down 18 inches where I want a patio and fills it up with gravel. Did I mention what a great mate he is?

May 14 to 19

Over a few days, Tony and the boys build the shed, roof it, and put a barn door on the front. It doesn’t look anything like the rough sketch he drew me on a piece of lumber — it looks bloody amazing. He also gets two of his younger guys — the lawn elves, I call them — to lay the sod I ordered from Petersen’s Turf Farm. It’s like insta-lawn. Mud pit, be gone!

May 19

Another mate, Chris O’Dell from DC Interlock, comes by for a beer and to give me a quote. Since we’ve already prepped the area, we get a great deal. He’s young, easy on the eyes and an absolute perfectionist when it comes to work.

Over the next few days, Chris and his buddy Josh work through the rain. To get perfect-fitting bricks, Chris runs a blade along the edge of the patio area. It’s back-breaking work, but by the time he’s done, he has completely transformed the backyard.

June 10

My girlfriend Londea Watson of Carp Country Gardens plants the horseshoe-shaped garden bed with shade-loving things, like hostas, burning bush, astilbe, ferns, hydrangeas and some annuals to fill in colour. My dog steals her lunch — Daisy is a house hog — so we end up making her a sandwich, too.

Joe and I spot a sale on a four-piece ­conversation set — two armchairs, a couch and a table — from Walmart. I also buy a few pieces of “fence art” and wrought-iron lamps from HomeSense.

July 8

Tony pops in — he’s here so often to admire his work, he’s like a garden gnome. He looks around the backyard, standing in the same spot he had back in September. We don’t say anything for a while. The backyard is quiet. Peaceful, even. And very, very grown up.

Lessons learned

1. Make a budget. Work out your budget beforehand and commit 100 per cent to the project and pushing it through on time. Wondering if you’ll have enough money to finish the job should happen before you start, not after the backhoe rips the guts out of your yard and leaves you with a mud pit.

2. Trust the experts. Support your contractors but don’t get in their way. Make it a point to discuss whatever issues you may have early, but don’t hover and ‘make suggestions.’ You hired them because they’re the experts and you’re not. Plus, you don’t want to annoy anyone driving a bobcat around your lawn.

3. Call before you dig. Even if it is just your backyard, there may be buried TV cables and hydro lines. It’s also the law. Go to on1call.com or call 1-800-400-2255.

4. Talk to your neighbours. They don’t have legal obligation to help pay for the fence — it doesn’t hurt to ask — but they still share it as common property since it’s on a boundary. Any existing fence that has to be altered or removed needs their consent before you start. If the fence is on your side of the property line, you don’t need consent, but it’s still a good idea to talk to them about the pending construction.

Fencing — Pre-fabricated wood fence panels are available and range in price from $88 to $160 for a six- or eight-foot panel, depending on materials used.

Sod — 22 cents a square foot if you pick up your own sod; 26 cents a square foot to have it delivered.

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